A friend of Mom’s called today for some advice. She acquired an eight month old male dog for Christmas. Lately, he has been showing some disturbing behaviors, as it was explained to Mom. It seems that on their walks, he goes up to an object, licks it and his teeth begin to chatter, followed by some foaming around his mouth.

Mom’s friend was convinced that somehow her dog had gotten into some poison. But this was not the case at all!

Us dogs have a Vomeronasal Organ, also called “Jacobson’s Organ”. It is located at the base of the nasal cavity. We are not the only creatures to possess this organ. Snakes, turtles, elephants and many other species also have the Jacobson’s organ. In fact, you have one, too! Unfortunately for humans, the functionality of the organ goes kaput during early development.  Oh, hamburgers, are you guys missing out!!

The organ’s primary function is to detect pheromones that carry information between individuals of the same species. It is kind of like a “sixth sense”. Or remember back when people read newspapers? Well, it’s like that, only slightly more sophisticated.

A girl dog may be out for a walk and decide to leave her “calling card” (also known as urine). This card is “read” by a boy dog. He begins by intently smelling the area and then tonguing, which means that the tongue is rapidly and repeatedly pushed up against the roof of his mouth. It is kind of like he is taking the odors off of the tongue and forcing them into the olfactory receptors. The “messages” are then sent to the hypothalamus. This is where he contemplates his sexual or social behaviors. (This is how us dogs are able to distinguish and recognize other animals and people.) During the tonguing process, many may have profuse foaming of the mouth and a chattering of the teeth may occur.

In a dog, sniffing is not the same as breathing. We sniff through a series of rapid, short inhalations and exhalations. You may notice us sniffing before the tonguing begins. Some of us dogs will sniff the air. Tax does this a lot (he’s really into smells). He holds his head back and sniffs while he moves his head back and forth. He is simply trying to locate the source of something he finds interesting. He is depending on scent particles roaming through the air getting caught on his wet nose. He can then determine the location of where the particles came from. Sometimes he begins foaming at the mouth and his teeth chatter. If you didn’t know better, you would swear that he was freezing to death!

So, don’t get so excited if you dog shows this kind of behavior. Also, do not discourage your dog from sniffing and smelling while he is on a walk. He’s gathering important information!